hpulleywrote:
Good on the towel-fu, amazing that all five matches are still going! They're in tough!

I wonder, do you think they'll lose? It of course seems set-up that they'll have the big showdown with their crosstown rivals, but, maybe not. Maybe both Mizusawa and Hokuo will both lose in the semis. That would be an interesting twist.

I guess those of us who won't read the manga will find out in another three or four weeks

That reminds me...if my opponent said, "I'm going to get the first win, so, Ace, take it easy," don't you think that would fire you up more? I'd have expected more of a reaction from Porky. Or is he just too intimidated by these girls that can kick his butt?

Yeah.. felt like a 5 minute episode.. Strangely I was more intrigued with Sudo a sadistic cackle in the middle of the match than what's her face from the West. I swear though they better finish the damn match next week.. I have to see Arata with creepy Shinobu hovering over him like the girl from the Ring..

Nah, Mizusawa's got this, lol! Just watch! With the way this show is, I think Chihaya will win her match against Megumu-san, and as a result, it'll spur the desire in Megumu-san to become queen. At least, that's my prediction anyway.

suikojaywrote:
With the way this show is, I think Chihaya will win her match against Megumu-san, and as a result, it'll spur the desire in Megumu-san to become queen. At least, that's my prediction anyway.

Yes, despite my hopes for a twist, you're probably right; no doubt we'll get the scene of Megumu shaking and sobbing in the lobby, rebuffing the adoration of her coach/teammates/fanboys as she declares that the unbearable pain of this loss proves she really does want to be Queen afterall. That would make that the third defeated opponent this tournament who commits their life to Karuta after a crushing loss to Mizusawa. Really, for once I'd just like someone to lose and say, "SCREW this."

As the list of tertiary characters has grow so large that we are now learning about quaternary characters, I admit I am finally losing track. Can someone remind me who this girl is?

As the list of tertiary characters has grow so large that we are now learning about quaternary characters, I admit I am finally losing track. Can someone remind me who this girl is?

They cut to her a few times in the audience as she watched Megumu.

Heh.. sounds like my husband watching .. "who the hell is that again?".. I said "I think that's one of the Fujisawa High School Girls sitting next to her mentor. iirc she was told to get whatever she could out of that match while everyone else would cheer the rest of the team who's playing Hokuo just to her left. I think.. so yeah hopefully they explain more. We had an info dump episode naming who these people were then left it alone... hopefully explaining later who that person is. I guess similar to when we saw Shinobu the first time we didn't know exactly who she was in the beginning. They created a mystique around her for a reason. The only problem however is that Shinobu was explained the very next episode.. we are now what.. 3 episodes in this match and we have no idea who the hell she is.. provided you go back to the info dump episode... something I might do later tonight because I want to make sure. Tehhehehe I expect if they gave her exclusive shot like that then she will become relevant soon.

I have to see Arata with creepy Shinobu hovering over him like the girl from the Ring..

Haha, haven't seen the Ring so I did a quick google search. Is this the girl?:

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

Freaky, if it is!

LOL yep that's her. I actually don't watch scary movies (I'm a wuss.. ) but I know who that girl is by reputation. note that they also drew Shinobu the same way when she came back from the Bird Rally thing completely drenched. Freaked everyone out.. LOL

These episodes sort of remind me of why I dropped Saki very early in the first season; too much emphasis on the backstories of competing teams that I didn't care about.

Of course it's to a lesser extent with Chihayafuru, and there's no danger of me ever dropping this anime. But I'm not enjoying this tournament arc as much as I've enjoyed all of the rest of the anime so far.

These episodes sort of remind me of why I dropped Saki very early in the first season; too much emphasis on the backstories of competing teams that I didn't care about.

Of course it's to a lesser extent with Chihayafuru, and there's no danger of me ever dropping this anime. But I'm not enjoying this tournament arc as much as I've enjoyed all of the rest of the anime so far.

Hmm it's interesting because I find all of this character development moreso than them starting off. I mean you can only be a rookie for so long and so far no one that has been introduced in the past has had zero impact in Chihaya later. My guess is that all of this stuff will continue to be relevant to her from now on. I admit one thing though.. this particular match is taking an eternity.. was it the same in the manga for those who read it?

Will there be a 3rd season? Does anyone know? Sorry, but I didn't take the time looking through the 20+ pages of replies.
I kinda have the feeling that if there's a 3rd season, they won't win and she won't make Queen this time around. They are, after all, only in the semi-finals right now, right?!

Ah, who knows... I have to say, 3 (!!!!) episodes for 1 (!!!!) game seems a bit exaggerated though.

For some reason I got pretty annoyed watching this one , I kept moving the cursor forward . I think I was getting annoyed with Chihaya and maybe I wanted that game to end in this episode.

Yeah same as last year and the reason why CR already has it up top of the "continuing" list instead of it finishing.

Anyway yeah .. I think the reason why I thought the same thing was because I really don't like Megume or wtf her name with the Glasses from the West.. she's a bitch.. At least I can say I like Shinobu because she's weird and not an evil person. This girl doesn't have an excuse for being a bitch.. she just is..

Gah, I agree with you all, this match is taking forever. Usually by now there would be some clue as to which team is going to win, but they are just stringing us along! If that girl they keep cutting to in the audience is from Fujisaki I believe that her team will advance to the finals, beating Hokuo. (Otherwise she wouldn't even play in the team tournament so why give her so much camera time, right?)

As for Chihaya... it sounds like Megumu is still leading by one or two cards. I really want Chihaya to win so that others will notice her as a serious contender for the queen match. I doubt she'll actually become queen this year, but I do hope she makes an impression.

Wouldn't be a crazy twist if

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

they get to the finals because Taichi, Oe and Desk-kun all won their matches but Chihaya and Porky didn't? Haha I don't know why I used a spoil tag, this is just my speculation!

I did like Sudo's comments, especially when he labelled Megumu as a sadist.

Lol, wow, some of u guys wouldn't like some other sports animes then since matches lasting a few to several episodes are pretty normal, lol!

So far, I think the matches, overall in this series, have been pretty short, and I suspect this current match with the Akashi Girls First team will end in the next ep. There's only so much drama they can pull off in a single Karuta match.

they get to the finals because Taichi, Oe and Desk-kun all won their matches but Chihaya and Porky didn't? Haha I don't know why I used a spoil tag, this is just my speculation!

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

Oh, I thought u put it in a spoiler because u could predict the future! No, but it's certainly a possibility that Chihaya could lose her match against Megumu. I think it actually would make things interesting for the final championship match, since I'd imagine there would be a lot of drama surrounding Chihaya after having lost her match (since she'll prolly be lacking confidence or something), and I'd imagine it'll carry over to the final match. But something unexpected and dramatic will happen (maybe Hokuo cheering for her since I still suspect Hokuo will lose in the semi-final) and it'll snap her out of and she'll end up leading Mizusawa to an unbelievable comeback and to the national championship!